Transformative Teaching

Reading Freire's writing has made me realize how fortunate I have been to have an education with teachers who have cared about their students’ growth. One teacher who came to mind was my eighth-grade English teacher, Ms. Kaneko. In my eyes at that age, Ms. Kaneko transcended space, time, and any conventional rules. She came into class wanting to share all of her knowledge and experiences so her students could grow both as learners and people. She used her life experiences to enrich and add depth to the material we were studying. She created space in her classroom where everything was to be questioned and understood. Open discussions about why society functions the way it does were a regular part of our learning. When a student voiced their opinions, Ms. Kaneko would provide her life experience to support or challenge their perspectives, starting a thoughtful debate. She would then invite students to defend their positions. Very often, these moments would become debates where “ The teacher is no longer merely the one-who-teaches, but one who is [herself] taught in dialogue with the students; who in turn while being taught also teach” (93). This process caused her students to be critical thinkers and be able to create strong arguments. Ms. Kaneko’s approach embodied the problem-posing education Freire advocates for. Because of her, I’ve been able to recognize the limitations of the “records, memorizes and repeats” (87) style of teaching and understand that there is always more depth to the material than what is initially presented.